He doesn't want to be exploited in the other party's political maneuverings.

Yesterday, my son John had a Facebook post linking to a New Republic item: "Why is Obama considering a Republican for the Supreme Court?" I didn't go to the item. I just answered the question: "Because he's not."

After the GOP telegraphed their intentions, Obama is only nominating people for political theatre, so of course he'll pick Sandoval (the sort of person he'd never otherwise nominate in a million years) and next he'll pick someone from another minority group the Dems need this fall, ideally a moderate, to try and make the GOP look unreasonable.

I doubt he'd pick a leftist like some suggest--not only would a leftist not get picked, but it would make the GOP look justified--"see, he just wants to pick some leftist to alter the Court's balance".

I didn't think that it was real either, but I was disturbed by what the story revealed. John Cornyn was asked about it and said that it makes "no difference" who the nominee is. Hugh Hewitt had a column saying the same thing. No difference! What, are you stupid? Of course it makes a difference; this isn't personal, it isn't about Obama. A blanket rejection is and can only be predicated on a reasonable prediction of Obama's likely behavior, not the populist guff that (I had thought) CGOP blew as a mere smokescreen. My distaste for that smokescreen now intensifies if, as appears, it is actually distorting the conversation, if decisions are being made based on compatibility with that rhetoric as though the rhetoric is the actual reasoning behind the action. If Obama nominated Diane Sykes, John Manning, or Paul Clement, of course that nominee should get a hearing! The point is precisely and exclusively that he won't do that. Dangerous enough it was to strike a rhetorical pose of "no no, 'we, the people' need to speak," the sort of demagogic garbage through which "The Dark Knight Rises" drove spears; what fatuous nonsense to actually act upon that line as though it were a principle! If Obama were to cave and send an acceptable nominee, we should count it as a win and confirm him or her! How perfectly brain-dead to confuse the packaging with the product!

Why is he considering a Republican for the SC nom? Same reason he tried to pull a Republican senator into the Dept of Commerce - because then you have taken a Republican out of the fight, and might get to replace them with a Dem. Back then, it was to pass Obamacare.

Why does Althouse's son think he would nominate a liberal democrat? To even get a sliver of a chance that repubs will even consider doing an up or down vote Obama would have to nominate a right of center centrist.